Cubes, Ladders And Horses
by Bookwrm389
Summary: Al may have been a sucker for these silly psychic readings, but why did he have to drag Ed down with him? Watch as the Elric brothers get cubed. I swear this is not crack.


_A.N. Have you ever been cubed? If the answer is "yes" then you know what's coming for Ed and Al. If the answer is "no" or "what the hell does that mean?" then you're about to learn something. It's kind of like a personality test. I was cubed a few years ago by a friend and I loved it because the results are completely open to interpretation._

Cubes, Ladders And Horses

The festival was one of the local kind, which meant everyone was invited, even outsiders who didn't have a clue what they were celebrating. For Ed, it was the perfect excuse to hang around in the small town and stuff himself with festival food before he and Al had to catch the next train out.

Ed took a huge bite out of a fruit-filled roll, savoring the taste with a broad smile. The vendor who baked it watched with an eager smile. "I take it you'll have more?"

Ed nodded fervently. "Mm-hm! 'L take free mo', fanks!"

The vendor chuckled and wrapped up three rolls for him. Ed paid for them and trotted off into the crowd to find Al with the rolls tucked under his arm.

"You'd think he'd be easy to find," Ed grumbled as he wove through the mass of people, struggling to see over everyone's heads for a glimpse of his armored brother. Eventually, he caught sight of Al entering a tent-like stall draped with deeply colored curtains. When Ed read the sign outside, he had to laugh.

_Psychic Readings - Seek understanding within yourself._

"That's a load of crap if I ever heard it," Ed snickered and pushed the curtain aside. "You in here, Al?"

Further in, he found Al sitting at a round table across from a woman dressed in standard fortune teller garb, complete with gaudy jewelry and a head scarf. She gave Ed a friendly smile as he came closer. "Come for a reading, child?"

"Yeah, right," Ed scoffed. "You gonna see my future in a crystal ball or something?"

"Don't be rude, Brother," Al said reproachfully. "Besides, Linda was just explaining that she doesn't see the future, right?"

Linda nodded in agreement. "As I often say, why waste your life worrying about what may never come? But if we all understood ourselves a little better, there would be far less misunderstanding and much more joy in this world."

She held a hand over her heart with a mysterious smile. "What I do is use my inborn intuition to read your heart and soul for you. That information is invaluable and yours to make of what you will."

"So what can you tell us about ourselves?" Al asked eagerly.

"And how much will it cost?" Ed added.

"Brother!"

"We're not swimming in money, Al!"

"It's quite all right," Linda said warmly. "We all need to make a living however we can. But what are a few coins compared to a glimpse into the core of your being?"

Ed resisted the urge to roll his eyes and took a seat at the table. He could tell this was going to take awhile. Al coughed up the money right away, which Linda collected before turning to Ed with an apologetic smile. "I'm afraid if you won't pay then I must ask you to leave."

"What's wrong with me staying?" Ed demanded.

"I have a special method I use to read another person," Linda explained patiently. "If you were to overhear, then it would be the same as me doing a reading for you."

"This is ridiculous!" Ed said angrily. "I'm not paying for some fraud to tell me that I have automail and hate milk!"

"_I'll_ pay for him," Al said in exasperation. "If you _have_ to stay then at least try not to spoil it for me, please?"

Ed sighed heavily. He was being borderline sulky and he knew it, but if this was what Al wanted…

"Fine, I won't say a word," Ed said grudgingly.

Al eyed him apprehensively before turning back to Linda. "So what do we do?"

"Nothing terribly strenuous," Linda assured him. "We're going to do a short mental exercise. I'll ask you to picture something and you'll describe what you see to me. At the very end, I'll explain the relevance of the images."

_Pull the answers out of your ass, more likely,_ Ed thought and had to bite his tongue to keep from saying the words out loud.

"Ok," Al agreed, sounding confused but curious.

And Linda began. "First, I would like you to picture a desert. Can you do that for me?"

And even though Ed promised himself that he wouldn't go along with this, a memory came unbidden to his mind of the desert he and Al crossed on the way to Lior. Instantly, Ed remembered how his skin baked under the scorching sun and how the hot sand burned his feet even through his boots, making him long for the coldest water.

"Ok, I see it," Al said quietly.

"Now in this desert, I want you to picture a cube."

"What kind of cube?" Al asked curiously.

"Whatever your mind chooses to see. Describe the cube exactly as you first see it."

A cube, huh? Ed had never seen a true cube except in mathematical drawings and he started to outline the shape in his head. But instead of a plain box in the desert, his mind created something else entirely.

It wasn't a cube, per se, but a building in the shape of a cube standing all by itself. The building was about three times Ed's height and constructed of wood and metal. But the wood was old and scoured by the desert sand, covered in ugly marks that only time and a harsh environment could cause. What little paint was left on parts of the wood was peeled and faded.

Ed didn't have to look inside to know it was empty. Maybe once it had a purpose, but that was gone now. Only the metal frame seemed solid, the bright silver reflecting the sun back in his eyes defiantly.

Where the heck had this image come from?

"The cube is a child's block," Al said, "like the ones me and Brother played with when we were kids."

"Large or small? Solid or empty? What is it made of?"

"It's solid, but very small," Al replied, holding up his hands. "Small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and made of wood with some colorful paint. But it's half-buried in the sand, so I can only see three sides. There's the letter A on one side and some shapes on the other two."

Al hesitated, as if reluctant to mention more. "It's like it was just left there by someone," he said sadly. "I doubt anyone who walked by would see it there."

"I see," Linda murmured. "Now, in this desert with the cube, picture a ladder. Tell me all you can about it--its size and composition as well as its position relative to the cube."

Ed shifted around in his chair grumpily. He had hoped the reading would stop at the cube, but even as he silently complained, his mind's eye took off. Ed had to look inside the building to find the ladder, leaning up against a wall. It was a sturdy ladder made of metal and stood tall and strong, though the bottom rung was partly buried in the sand. So not even the building could shelter it from the desert, not completely.

But what purpose could a ladder possibly serve in a worn down building like this? It belonged somewhere else, someplace where it could make a real difference instead of sitting around here, listless and unwanted until it rotted away…

…and now he was getting sentimental over a ladder. Just perfect. This Linda was good at what she did, Ed would give her that.

"The ladder is lying on the ground," Al said after a moment, "since there's nothing there for it to lean on. The cube is positioned between the rungs. I'm not really sure what the ladder's made of…"

"It's alright to be unsure," Linda reassured him. "That same uncertainty is why we're doing this in the first place. Shall we move on?"

"How much longer is this going to take?" Ed asked edgily.

"Not long," Linda said, giving him a knowing smile. Ed had an uneasy feeling that Linda knew how uncomfortable he was with psychological crap like this and was loving every minute of it.

"Now for the last part," Linda said and Ed breathed a sigh of relief. "In the desert with the cube and the ladder, picture a horse. Tell me all you can about it, including its position relative to the cube and the ladder."

Ed's first thought was to wonder why there was a horse in the middle of the desert. It certainly couldn't be there by its own choice…

And suddenly Ed saw the horse inside the building as well, curled up near the door and gazing out at the desert. There was a chain attached to his reins, shackling him to the wall. Ed mentally looked around the building. There was no water, no food or straw, nothing to keep him there.

But the horse was completely calm, almost content as it looked out at the desert. Like he would never consider going anywhere else.

_Why doesn't he break the chain and leave?_ Ed thought angrily. It didn't look all that strong, the horse could snap it easily with one quick pull. But maybe…maybe the building was the only shelter he had from the blazing sun outside. At the very least, the building offered that.

"The horse is limping," Al said in a small voice. "I don't know why, but he is. And there's a rope around his neck that's frayed at the end. I guess he got loose from somewhere."

"And what is the horse doing?"

"Turning his nose up at freedom," Ed muttered.

"He's digging the block out of the sand," Al breathed. "Why would he do that?"

"Why indeed?" Linda said, sounding almost happy. "Now I will attempt to interpret what you saw, Alphonse. We will start with the cube, which represents how you see yourself."

"So he sees himself as some kid's toy?" Ed said with a laugh. "That's cute, Al."

Linda cleared her throat pointedly. "There is far more to it than that. The cube as a child's toy may represent the stage of his life Al believes he is in. Childhood. Or perhaps, the _loss_ of childhood? You mentioned that the cube was left buried in the sand, overlooked. This could symbolize a silent wish to be seen as the child you know you are."

"Huh," Al murmured thoughtfully.

Ed had to admit, that was one hell of a guess on Linda's part. Because of the armor, Al sometimes had trouble convincing others he was only fourteen. Thinking back to his own cube, Ed had to grin. So he was just a wrecked building in the desert, eh? Well, it wasn't like it was the building's fault it was constructed in such a harsh place…

"What about the ladder and the horse?" Al asked eagerly. "What do they stand for?"

Linda folded her hands neatly on the table. "The ladder represents how you see your friendships. Ordinarily, the ladder lying on the ground speaks of friendships that are weak and unimportant. But you specified that the ladder was lying down because it had 'nothing to lean on'. Does this mean that you don't see yourself as a reliable friend? Or are you unable to hold up your end of the friendship?"

"We do travel a lot," Al mused, looking at Ed. "It's hard to have friends when we're always on the move."

"You know why we're traveling," Ed reminded him. "And we _do_ have friends!"

"But we always have to leave them," Al said unhappily. "We haven't seen Winry in months…"

"Not to worry," Linda said gently. "Your ladder was surrounding the cube, was it not? It wasn't merely next to it or far away. You and your friends are close, despite the difficulties you face."

Al pondered this mutely while Linda watched them both thoughtfully.

"So what if the ladder's leaning against the cube?" Ed asked, crossing his arms defensively when both Al and Linda looked his way. "I mean, hypothetically."

"It means your friends depend on you, far more than you know," Linda explained. "Without you, those friendships will fall like a ladder without support. If the ladder stands upright without support, it means you have strong, healthy friendships that are difficult to break."

"Right," Ed muttered, already berating himself for calling the ladder 'listless and unwanted', if only in his mind. He did _not_ see his friends as useless! Winry was important to him in more ways than one, always there to fix his automail and take care of him and Al.

_But for how long?_ a small part of Ed's mind whispered. _How long will she put up with that kind of treatment?_

"And the horse?" Al asked nervously.

"Ah, the horse is my favorite part to interpret," Linda said blissfully. "The horse represents how you see the most important person in your life. For most, it is a significant other, a husband or wife. For some, it is a close friend or family member and for others a mere figment of the imagination, a dream they don't believe will ever come true."

Ed glanced sideways at Al and caught his little brother giving him the same look. They never said it out loud, but Ed knew that without each other they would both be completely lost. It was a no-brainer who the horses represented.

"So the fact that the horse was digging the block from the sand…?" Al said slowly.

"This person sees your true self when no one else does," Linda said approvingly. "More to the point, they want everyone else to see it too. And because you designated the horse as a 'he', I think you already have an idea of who this person is."

"Yeah, I think I do," Al said softly.

"I couldn't say why your horse was limping, though" Linda continued. "The broken rope instead of a saddle and reins could suggest a spirited person who won't be tied down, someone who breaks all the rules."

Al snickered and Ed shot him an annoyed glare. "So we're done here, right?" he asked impatiently.

"Yes, I suppose we are," Linda agreed. "Unless…?"

"No, I _don't_ want to be cubed," Ed said irritably. "Let's go, Al."

Al stammered out a quick thanks to Linda and they stepped outside. "That was interesting, wasn't it Brother?"

"A waste of money if, you ask me," Ed griped. Now that he knew what the images represented, he was having a hard time getting them out of his head. Particularly that of the horse chained to the building…

"Didn't you have a bag when you came in?"

"What?" Ed said, coming back to reality. "Oh, damn it, my fruit rolls!"

"You bought _more_ food?" Al said incredulously. "And you thought _I_ was wasting money!"

"Aw, shut up!" Ed muttered and started back for the tent. "I'll be right back!"

Ed pushed the curtain open and slipped inside to find that Linda had vanished. He knelt down to check under the table. Had he set them down somewhere?

"I thought you'd be back for these."

Linda's voice coming from the shadows made Ed jump and smack his head on the table. He scrambled up with a curse only to find Linda right in front of him. She set the bag in his hands and Ed fiddled with the wrapping awkwardly. "Um, thanks…"

"The cube can change, you know," Linda said kindly. At Ed's blank stare, she smiled. "The horse and the ladder as well. I've seen it happen. Once you understand why they are the way they are, you can begin making those necessary changes within yourself. And those changes will affect those close to you, making their lives a little better. That's one reason why we humans are so incredible."

"I…I guess," Ed said slowly, then with more confidence. "Yeah, of course we can change! Just because some cube says you're one thing doesn't mean it has to stay that way."

Linda bowed her head, that mysterious smile back in place.

"Right well, I've got to go," Ed said, gesturing back. "Al's waiting for me."

"Of course."

Ed stepped back out into the sunlight to find Al standing just outside the tent. As they turned in the direction of the train station, Ed took a deep breath. "So want to hear about my cube?"

"I thought you didn't care about that stuff?" Al said, mystified. "I didn't think you were even listening half the time."

"Maybe I just think my cube is way cooler than yours," Ed said with a sly grin.

"Oh really?" Al snorted. "Well, I bet my ladder beats yours any day!"

"It'll have to get past my horse first!"

"Not if my horse beats it down!"

The townspeople who overheard couldn't help but stare as the two boys strolled down the road toward the train station, oblivious to everything but each other and their odd banter of cubes, ladders and horses.

* * *

_A.N. Ah, this brings back fun cubing memories! If you plan to cube someone, make sure you do it right! I wrote the instructions as well as I could remember, but I am by no means an expert. I had a hard time coming up with some of Ed and Al's responses, but overall I'm proud of what I thought up for their first cubing experience. _


End file.
